Improvement in glass-presses



f l ZSheets--SheetL YW. BEEK.

2 Sheets=Sheet 2',

W, BECK. Press.

Patented May 4,1875,

WVASHINGTON BECK, 0F PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

uMPnovEME-Nr Vin emes-ratsam.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. ll62,79l, dated May 4, 1875; application-filed April 4,1873.

To all whom it may concern.:

Beit known that l, WASHINGTON BECK, formerly of Birmingham, in the county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, but now residing in Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a Power-Press for the Manufacture of Glassware; and I do hereby declare that l'the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part ot' this specification, in whichl Figure 1, Plate 1, is an elevation of one side of the press. Fig. 2, Plate 1, is asection, taken vertically and longitudinally through the center ofthe press, the piston and its cylinder being removed. Fig.r3, Plate 2, is a section taken vertically and ltransversely through the'press. Figs. .4., Plate 2, show an open and shut mold. Fig. 5, Plate 2, is a sectional view of a lifting-handle for the molds. Fig. 6, Plate 2, is a sectional view of the valvebox, through which air is alternately introduced above and below the piston.

' Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts iu the several figures.

The object of my invention is to render practical power-presses for the manufacture of pressed glassware, by the employment of. atmospheric pressure in combination with a movable plunger and glass molds, as I-will hereinafter explain.

Prior to my invention attempts have been made to work moldin g-presses by steam-power,

but owingto the accumulation of water of condensation in the steam pipes and other assages the movements im parted to the press- 1n g-head or plunger were irregular, or too quick at one time and too slow at other times.' The result'of; such movements was to injure the molds and produce imperfect work. Another objection attending the userof steam is its condensation in the steam-cylinder and escape of Water therefrom upon the molds L,below it.

It 'will be seen from the following description that the aboveI objections are remedied by the employment of atmospheric pressure,

- which is regular in its action, and can be perfectly controlled by an attendant. Atthe same time there will be no moisture generated which would be liable to injure the work. i

'Ihe lfollowing is a description ot' one-practical modeV ofcarrying my invention'intoeii'ect: On a table, A, is a reciprocating mold-bed, B, which is moved by means of spur-wheels 1c k and transverse shafts r r. 0u the outer ends ofthe shafts 'r r are spur-wheelsjj and v'ry brating pawl-arms 'a n, carrying pawls t t. 'Ihe wheels jj are keyed on their shafts, but

l the pawl -arms Aare applied loosely thereon,

and vibrated by means of connectingrods J J, a rod, t', and a vertically-reciprocatingcrosshead, E. IPhe rod i passes through a fixed guide, m, and is connected to a block, p, which latter isconnected to the rods J J, by means of pins working in oblong slots made through thel lower ends of these rods. rIhe oblong slots just referred tofallow the plunger l and spring-plate gl to rise clear of the molds before the mold-bed commences to move. Unly one pawl, t,is in operationata time, and these pawls should be adjusted at the termination of each full stroke of the bed. Por the purpose of positively holding the moldbed 'stationary during each operation of. pressing, I employ one or more-spring-clicks, s s,`

which engage with notches made into the bed. i

ll have represented ve molds, bb b b b,"upon 'the bed B, arranged so as to be successively brought beneath the plunger l by theintermittent movements imparted to the bed, as above described. This number may be increased, or only a single mold may be employed, in which latter case the mold-bed may be stationary, or such mold maybe applied directly upon the table A. The cross-head E is guided in its vertical movements by means of standards C C, which are connected t0- gether at their upper ends by. means of a head-bar, C', on which is secured va cylinder, D, having apiston, V, working in it, said piston moving downward against a light spring, Y, which acts as au easing-cushion,

and assists the piston in its ascent. The piston-rod N, works air-tight through the lower head of the cylinder D and below the crossbar C'. This rod is screw-threaded and re- I upper headed ends s 'teaser ceives upon ita handfwheel, f, jam nut w, and the plunger Z. The wheel f and nut w are for the purpose of adjustably securn g a plate, g, to the piston-rod, which plate is connected to the spring-plate g1 by four rods, surrounding which are springs g2. The lower ends of saidingto the different heights of molds. Thev cylinder D has a pipe, F, communicating with its upper end, anda pipe, Ff, communicating with its lower end. These pipes are coupled to a'valve-box, G, in which are two valves, c 12.1 having V shaped passages through them, and handles h h1 applied to their exposed stems. The handles last referred to are con-- nected together by a link, h2. The valve-box is constructed with a passage, 9which communicates with a reservoir, W, by means of. a pipe, F2, and also with two passages which communicate with the cylinder D above and below the piston V. This valve-box is also constructed with exhaust-passages o o'. When the three-way valves c c2 are adjusted as .shown in Fig. 6 air from passage 9 will pass throughvalve ,el to the space above the piston and depress the piston. At the same time air from beneath the piston will be expelled through valve c and exhaust-passage 0 on lthe'left-hand side ofthe valve-box.

When the valves are reversed air will pass to the space below the piston through valve c, and exhaust through valve nl and the right-hand passage o1. Thesevalves are moved by an attendant, and, by means of them, he has complete'control of the power which moves the piston, both for depressing the plunger and raising it.

It is important to have a reservoir, W, of auch capacity as will contain at least a suiiicient volume of air to give two strokes to the plunger, which reservoir will be supplied 1 by means of an air-engine, P, or its equivalent, worked by any convenient power.

Instead of using condensed air for actuating the press, atmospheric pressure may be employed, by'alternately creating a vacuum above and below the piston Vf I prefer, however, to use condensed air, as in this case any desired degree of pressure may be obtained. f

For the purpose of automatically discharging the pressed articles from the molds, these molds are provided with movable plugs b', working centrally through their bottoms, which plugs .drop down into a slot, S, made through the table-top A as they approach the plunger l; and, after the' operation of pressing, the plugs b areraised by inclined4 -6, on a spring key, Aet.

f ranging the molds.

planes o at the teriiiini of said slot. The articles are ,thus loosened in thepmold, and can lbe removed by means of forks in the hands of For the purpose of handling the molds I employ a handle, 7, having a prismatic socket in its end, and provided with a catchfpm,

cure prismatic tenons e, one or more, which are received into the socket in the handle 7, and secured therein by the" pin 6 entering a notch or depression in such tenen.

- If it is desired to tilt the molds at any time for the purpose of discharging from them any fereign matter, this can be conveniently done, after applying'the handle 7 to them, by means ofthe standard e2 and a rod, el, which afford fulcrumsupports for one side of the molds, and allow them to be up set.I

The open and shut mold shown by Figs. 4, which does not require the movable discharging-plug, consists of three main parts, two of which are hinged together, and held shut by a handle-pin, V. The circular dovetail elevation on the top of the bottom plate of this mold is receivedl into corresponding recesses formed in the bottom of the hinged halves. This open and shut mold is, like the solid molds, constructed with circular tenon on its bottom, which is received into ai-'borrespending recesss made intoxthe'bed B, thus preventing lateral displacement.' of the mold when applied on its bed.

In using a rectilinear movable bed, B, and a slot, S, with the inclined planes o o,- an auxiliary lifting device, Ts employed to remove the article from the mold. This device consists of a strip, T, secured at one end beneath the table-top, and left free'at the other`end.

The free end of this strip is raised by means of a pin, 2, on. the shaft r1, and atproper times the free end of the strip Twill be raised, and act against a discharging-plug, b', next to the last molds of the series. Two liftingstrips T are required, `arranged for' lifting the plugs b', which are next both endsfof the series. ,y t

Lifting-strips similar to those above described may-be used without the inclined planes, but in such case more pins mustbe ap plied to the shaft r.

The bed of molds may be run out either to the right or left by turning the shaft 'r with the handle, g. This is quite important for ar- VI have found -for light work that a vacuum apparatus for producing the pressing operation will be useful; but I prefer the compressed-air apparatus, as a more powerful pressure with a'smaller cylinder may be obtained.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to'secure by Letters Patent, tis

On the molds I se-4 `1. The power glasspress, consisting of the glass-shaping-inccbanism, and the mechanism for lapplying atmospheric pressure for performing tbe pressing operation, colnbined and operating substantially as described,

2..The combination 'of the revolving shaft r, carrying pin 2, with the plugs b of molds b, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described. 3. The incline pla-nes o of table A, iu coin- -bination with the liftingplug's b", substantially as described.

4. The spring T, iu combination with the reciprocating mold-bed B, plugs b', and shaft l r, carryingpin 2, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the shaft r, wheel k, handle q,- and the automatically-reciprocatin g mold-bed B, in the manner and for the purpose described.l

' 6. The combination of the mold-bed Bi, con- A nectinglinks J, a rod, t', Wheels j and k, pawls t, and a plunger, l, substantially as and fior the purpose described.

7. The locking device-s or s', in combination with the bed ofmolds, substantially as de-I scribed.

8. The removable handle 7, con structed withl a socket, and provided with a catch pin, 6, ou a spring-keyA, and adapted to be iitted and fastened upon the tenon e of the molds, substau- J. N. CAMPBELL, CEAS. P. WEBSTER. 

